RickyD

Hi ScoobyNetters,

Just thought I would share my experience with you. I've gone to the dark side, but I haven't forgotten about you guys

This is what I posted on the uk-mkivs.net a Golf/Bora Bulletin Board this morning.

I thought you may all be interested in the sort of scams currently going on Ebay.

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I've left it for a week or so until I've went public with the following news....You never know who's lurking around on these boards.

Seriously there are some really nice genuine people on here and other boards who we can trust as friends.

Anyway here we go:- I bid for some Audi TT 18" 9-spoke RS4 type wheels on the Ebay a few weeks ago and won the auction at £580 inc. carriage. I wasn't sure if they were originals or replica's, but at that price I didn't even query it.

I know they sound like a good buy, that's why I bid for them. The guy in question was selling on behalf of his cousin who had upgraded his TT wheels. This turns out to be a big scam and a load of bllcks!!

They apparently owned a transport company, so the carriage would be free of charge.

My Dad sent the cheque to a place in Rochdale (It's probably and empty warehouse somewhere). E-mail's were sent to and from us and the seller to confirm that the cheque had been sent etc.

By Thursday 19th June the cheque had cleared. My Dad sent e-mails on both Thursday and Friday asking for the delivery status and no reply has been made since.

This is where the worrying part comes.....My Dad then requested the guys details from Ebay and they differed from that of the guy we had sent the cheque to and the person my Dad called asking about the wheels.

What a suprise the guy hadn't a clue what my Dad was talking about. I didn't find out until a day later as my Dad didn't want to spoil my Weekend.

This seller has obviously just plucked a name and number out of the phone book! He must have had a stolen credit card or something to set the account up.

As you can all my Father and me are really embarrsed that this has happened to us and I believe that I cannot trust anyone with cheques again.

"We are victoms are crime!" and we feel bad about it!!

We notified the Police straight away and are still awaiting there feedback. Apparently there is a member of the EBay team who works full-time for the Police force investigating these types of cases.

This is not really a major crime for the Police to investige, so I'm not postive at all.

So unfortunately for me I owe both my parents money for something I don't have and I'll have to wait until next year before I can by some nicer wheels for my Golf.

Both Ebay's security checks and compensation stinks!! First of all we have to wait 30days before we can make a claim and secondly the maximum you can claim back is £120 minus £15 admin. fees. What a joke!

If we had paid by Paypal we would of probably received the whole amount back, although the seller didn't have it.

Anyone else have any other suggestions or comments they would like to add??

Cheers

RickyD

JayPSC

Can the cops not track the person that cashed the cheque???

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

Can you not get the bank to get the money back from the guys account?

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

p.s Ebay is full of this at the moment. I wont touch it. A mate bought a cd changer of there the other week and it's broken [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] If you want to buy something find a trusted source.

Paul

RickyD

Hi Guys,

Still awaiting feedback from the Police and apparently the Bank cannot do anything for us with the 'Data Protection Act' and all that.

Cheque's are cr&p!

Cheers

RickyD

GaryK

Good luck with that, I use ebay constantly and never have problems (apart from the odd non paying high bidder), yep its tough, paypal probably wouldnt have protected you either if the address was uncofirmed, hindsight and all that is wonderful, for anything over £250 I'll normally collect and if its too far away I wont bid, simple as that!

Nevetas

I'm an ebay veteran, and like most things, aslong as you are not a noob, you can usually tell the dodgy stuff.

I've sold over 1,000 items on there.

Krade

Never had probs with ebay myslef except for one git over the pond who took my money & never sent the goods, emailed him threating him with leagal action and the fbi ect ect, never saw the money and as it was only £20 I decided to write it off as one of lifes expericences. Doubt I could do write it off with the amount you've lost Hope you get your money back or revenge

Freak

If it was something of that value i would go and pick it up.
I use ebay all the time- lots of records and stuff- but some bigger things.

Anything more than £100 ill go pick it up or get it done Cash on delivery service.

Had arguments with people before when i have queried the delivey/post and they have refused to change it- so cancelled the sale. Id rahter do that than lose cash.

robby

can't you post the adress details on here, there should be some peeps local to rochdale who might check the address out for you?

scoobydooooo

totally agree, did you check his feedback ?? normally a good indicator , ebay is open to this type of fraud but you just have to be wary , i know this is no compensation but you live and learn !!

Tiggs

bought loads and either collect the pricey stuff or do some research....ie. check their feedback- call them up etc.

T

pslewis

WARNING - feedbacks can be stolen, as has been the case with some mobile phone scams .... they hack all the positive reports from someone else and use as their own!!

I would ALWAYS pick the items up - you have them/it in your car then AND can walk away if NOT as described!!

I certainly would NEVER pay for ANYTHING that I didn't have in my grubby mits - its my simple rule and has kept me safe up to now!

Pete

John WRX

use ebay all the time not had a problem, what was his/her/its username??? Sorry to hear about this mate.

Chins

Dont worry Pete there will be a genuine seller of gold wheels out there somewhere for you

Jonathan

stuckhere

In the past when I've payed for stuff thats a big amount I always verify who they are in the phone book or online.
That way you match the two together.
I even did it when I bought something abroad, found them with AT&T kind of the equivilant of BT.
If its a free email account like hotmail or the like I usually question the seller, aol or an ISP email address is usually a good sign.
Good luck, I hope you get your money back.

BMW bikes

Get a friend to sign the cheque then if the seller turns out to be a bull****er report the chequebook stolen and demand the bank return your money.

rik1471

Did the seller have any positive feedback?

flat4

escrow services are useful for larger money transactions where they hold your cash until you receive the goods and when you say that your happy with item(s), then they send the money to the seller. although this has been known to be scamable in the US aswell


kev

scoobydooooo

that would be most useful

chiark

Sorry to hear about this. I'm just waiting for goods from the US after paying via paypal for 'em, but the seller is "verified" so I have protection from that.

Great, but unfortunately illegal (criminal as opposed to civil) as you're committing fraud. Plus the bank is not obliged to return your money if you report it stolen after cheques have cleared.

GordonShek

I always use paypal and if the other person doesn't accept paypal then I won't deal. I haven't had a problem with ebay/Paypal as yet but you've really got to have a bit of common sense about yourself before commiting to such an expensive deal.

The thing you mention about the bank saying "data protection act" is a load of bull. The person has commited a fraud, the police are investigating so surely the police can instruct the bank to provide a name.

I remember once I looked at my bank statement and saw a cheque which I didn't recogise. I contacted the bank immediately and they send me a photocopy of the cheque, when it was cashed, etc, etc, etc. It turned out that I post dated it and forgot about it. Doh!